What makes Griftlands’ style of adventure especially interesting is that victory is not all about stabbing people in the front. Voice acting is done through a Sims-style gibberish language, meaning you’ll be reading a lot of subtitles (which are enhanced by the tone from the voices), but the soundtrack during combat is every bit as catchy as you’d hope from a game you’re expected to spend a lot of time playing through again and again. With the exception of Sal’s campaign, which is a pretty bland revenge quest with few surprises, the stories aren’t something you’ll want to skip even on repeat playthroughs I’ve found that small details change enough to keep it interesting, and it’s all based on the missions generated and the decisions you made.Īdding to the already substantial amount of charm is Griftlands’ hand-drawn Saturday Morning Cartoon style and bizarre-looking anthropomorphic animals and humans who live in its world. The general outline of each campaign follows the same storyline every time, but the exact missions you’re sent on, the characters involved, and the random encounters you stumble upon are procedurally generated so that no two runs are quite the same.

As a fellow grifter in the midst of this chaotic hive of ruthlessness and double-crosses, you’ve got to learn quickly or become another mark added to the pile of corpses it’s a perfect setup for a conflict-heavy roguelike if I’ve ever seen one. They might be looking to make a quick buck, plotting revenge, or making a grab for power, but almost no one is innocent or without ulterior motives. Whether I was playing a mercenary on a quest for revenge, a retired soldier turned double agent who’s playing both sides of a rebellion, or a blackout-drunk slacker who’s been disowned by his family, everyone – whether they’re playable or an NPC – is looking out for number one. The main way Griftlands distinguishes itself from those games is that each of its campaigns tells a more substantial story – and for the most part they’re all exceptional.

Griftlands is a deck-building roguelike in the same vein as genre standouts like Slay the Spire and Monster Train in which you earn random cards battle by battle until you lose and do it all over again.

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